When a large forest fire breaks out in the mountains of Montana, a squad of 'Smoke Jumpers', the paratroop-corps of fire-fighters in the U. S. Forest Service, is flown to the scene from their regional headquarters in Missoula, Montana. The Forest Rangers, under Cliff Mason, put out the blaze, but several of the fire-fighters are killed. Ed Miller, son of one of the dead rangers, thinks he died because Mason was a coward, and sets out to prove it.
Richard Widmark
as Cliff Mason
Constance Smith
as Peg Mason
Jeffrey Hunter
as Edward J. (Ed) Miller
Richard Boone
as Richard 'Dick' Dryer
Warren Stevens
as Steve Burgess
James Griffith
as Boise Peterson
Joe Sawyer
as R. A. 'Pop' Miller
Robert Adler
as McMullen (uncredited)
Parley Baer
as Doctor Henry (uncredited)
Charles Bronson
as Neff (uncredited)
Harry Carter
as Ken Philippe (uncredited)
John Close
as Lewisohn (uncredited)
